The man who helped build OnePlus from scratch and emerged as the face of the company, Carl Pei, has confirmed that he is leaving the company after 7 glorious years of serving as its co-founder and director.
The news of Carl Pei leaving the company broke out earlier this week, right before the launch of OnePlus 8T, by several media reports. However, this is the first time that the man himself has announced his departure.
“After nearly 7 years at OnePlus, I’ve made the difficult decision to say goodbye,” wrote Carl Pei on the OnePlus community blog.
Pei is now looking forward to taking a break before he moves on to his next mission. He said, ” These past years, OnePlus has been my singular focus, and everything else has had to take a backseat. I’m looking forward to taking some time off to decompress and catch up with my family and friends. And then follow my heart on to what’s next.”
Indeed Carl has given his all to the company, which allowed OnePlus to attain global fame. Ever since its inception in 2013, the Chinese smartphone maker has always come up with quality handsets at killer prices, and is starting to give Samsung and Apple a run for their money in the premium smartphone segment.
The OnePlus co-founder has been instrumental in building and marketing the Oneplus flagship line-ups especially the flagship killer OnePlus 5 series, which was the beginning of the company’s venture into the mid-premium smartphone segment. Since then, the company has never looked back and has launched back-to-back successes. The latest Oneplus 8T, which was launched on 14 October, might have been Carl’s last adventure with OnePlus.
Pei wrote in the post, “I want to thank you all for believing in us throughout all these years. And the team. The amazing people that I’ve been fortunate to fight side by side with. The friendships I’ve made here are the most precious parts of this journey. With them, the company is in capable hands.”
Carl Pei started OnePlus alongside Pete Lau, co-founder and CEO of OnePlus. The duo has shared a great camaraderie in the past. However, reports claim that things might have got bitter between Carl and Pete.
Nonetheless, if there was acrimony between the two founders, Pei did not let it slip into his announcement. He said, “I am eternally grateful to Pete for taking a chance in this kid without a college degree, with nothing to his name but a dream. The trust, mentorship, and camaraderie will never be forgotten. Thanks for the opportunity of a lifetime.”
